Combined tie-plate and brace.



I. L. EDWARDS.

COMBINED TIE PLATE AND BRAGE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1,1, 191s.

COLUMBIA PLANoaRAm-l co4. WASHINOTDN. D. c.

Aso

ISAAC L. EDWARDS, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS.

COMBINED TIE-PLATE AND BRACE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 24, 1914:.

Application filed September 11, 1913. Serial N o. 789,359.

To all whom t may concern:

be it known that I, ISAAC L. EDWARDS, or Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Combined Tie-Plates and Braces, and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

The object of my invention is to provide a combined tie-plate and brace for railroads for preventing spreading or turning over of the rails, which, with a minimum of metal will have all required strength for the purpose and which will be capable of easy as-V the tie plate upon which the rail 11 rests 1 and which plate is secured to the tie 12 by spikes driven through holes in the plate into the tie. At the end of the tie plate on the outer side of the rail, the tie plate has an upturned flange, or lip 14;, and also on the outer side of the rail 11 it has a block 15 riveted, or otherwise rigidly secured to the tie plate, and having in its underside next to the rail a recess to receive the outer rail flange which is thus overhung and engaged by the inner portion of said block. A brace 16 is interposed between the outer side of the rail 11 and the lip 14, said brace having the general shape of a triangle, the hypotenuse of which extends from the rail head downward and outward, a foot 17 being provided at its outer end to engage the lip and bear upon the top of the plate contiguous to the lip, and through said foot and through the plate a spike 18 is driven into the tie. Besides being secured by the spike which passes through the foot, the brace at its side which bears against the web of the rail interlocks with the inner end of the tie block 15, said tie block having for this purpose an outwardly extending slot 19 that opens from its inner edge inward and is widened on its underside so as to receive an inverted T-shape extension 2O from the bottom of the brace, which extension snugly ts and interlocks said slot, the lateral flanges of said extension lying beneath overhangs formed by the enlargement of the slot on its underside. Thus the brace through said extension bears on the top of the rail flange and the bracev at its inner end has a bearing against the rail web all the way from the top surface of the Hange up to the rail head and besides this structural advantage which contributes to the rigidity of the support that the brace affords, the locking together of the brace and the tie block 15 is produced by a very simple contrivance which possessesthe qualities of readiness of assemblage of the parts and security when assembled. The brace being in the form of a solid triangular plate that extends from the top of the tie block 15 to the upper portion of the brace avoids the presence of an opening inV which the foot of passers-by might enter and at the same time the strength of the brace is increased. y

On its inner side the rail is secured by a key, or locking device that is composed of a vertical shank or stem 21 having at its bottom-a substantially diamond-shaped head 22 adapted to pass through a correspondingly shaped hole 28 in thetie plate contiguous to the edge of the rail flange and upon its upper side has a rail-engaging finger 24.- and diametrically opposite the latter a plate-like extension 25 having Aa hole 26 for the passage of a spike 27 therethrough and through an alining hole in the plate into the tie. The diamond-shape head 22 on the underside of the key shank, or stem, is set at an angle so that when the key is in the hole 26 and is turned to cause the railflange-engaging finger to extend at right angles to the rail, diametrically opposite portions of said head will interlock, or overlap the under-surface of the tie-plate on `opposite sides of the hole. Preferably the underside of the tie plate concentric with the hole is countersunk or recessed to accommodate a portion of the head. The operation of applying the key, or locking device is very simple and easily done. It is necessary merely to pass the diamond-shaped head 22 downward through the correspondingly shaped hole 28 in the tie-plate and then turn the key until the head projections overlap the sides of the hole and its finger occupies the rail flange engaging position at right angles to the length of the rail and the spike-receiving hole 26 is in alinement with the hole-in the tie-plate. Owing I tothe downward and outward inclination of the upper side of 'the rail flange the railengaging-iinger of the key, when the latter is in the position to pass its head through the hole in the tie-plate, is entirely clear of the rail iiange and its engagement with the rail iange by the turning movement of the key is gradual and, therefore, the operation of turning the key is easily done and beyond the clamping or binding action of the linger increases with a cam-like action.

rlhe underside of the key head 22 is tapering and comparatively sharp so that by the blow of a hammer it may be made to penetrate the tie, the top of the shank being formed to receive the hammer blow, and to facilitate turning of the key against the resistance of the tie engaged by the head, the'outer end of the key extension has a tail 29 which may be struck by a hammer.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is Y 1.. The combination of a tie-plate, a brace Copies ofpthis patent may be obtained for on its upper side an upturned lip, and a block that overhangs the rail iange, and a brace that extends between the rail and said lip, and has next to the rail web a downward extension with oppositely projecting flanges, said extension engaging a slot in said block that extends from the inner edge of the portion that overhangs the railv flange.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

ISAAC L. EDVARDS.

Witnesses GovA M. RUSSELL, OLNEY C. ALLEN.

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner o1' Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

